Clinical experience of acupuncture treatment for a patient with stomach pain and feeling of fullness / 全日本鍼灸学会雑誌

[Introduction] Acupuncture has been used in patients with functional digestive symptoms. Acupuncture treatment was used on a patient with upper stomach pain and feeling of fullness accompanied by pain in knee, neck and shoulders. Details of the clinical experience have been written in this brief report and shows improvement in gastric symptoms and increase of normogastria in gastric electrical activities by acupuncture treatment.[Case] A 73 year-old female patient, who was 148 cm tall and 51 kg in weight, complained of some chronic pain at the first medical examination. However, in the 24th treatment, the patient complained of severe stomach pain and feeling of fullness accompanied by 36 points on the gastrointestinal symptom rating scale (GSRS). Therefore, electrogastrograms (EGG) were recorded, as a noninvasive clinical evaluation of gastric function, at 15 minutes before and after the 30th treatment for 10 minutes using the retaining needle technique at bilateral ST36 andST40.[Result] The decrease of GSRS showed improvement of gastric symptoms by acupuncture treatment. After treatment, the percentage of normogastria in EGG increased to 71% from 58%, thus stabilizing theincrease in power spectra.[Discussion] It has been suggested that the increase of nomogastria in EGGs show an improvement of gastric symptoms. Moreover, the patient was told about the positive changes in EGG by an acupuncturist, and explaining that the acupuncture treatment seemed to improve clinical symptoms. Thus, acupuncture treatment contributed to an improvement of symptoms in a patient with stomach pain and feeling of fullness.[Conclusion] Acupuncture treatment induced an increase in percentage of normogastria in EGG power and resulted in an improvement in gastric symptoms of a patient with upper stomach pain and feeling of fullness.

Reproduction, feeding and migration patterns of Prochilodus nigricans (Characiformes: Prochilodontidae) in northeastern Ecuador

The black prochilodus, Prochilodus nigricans, is an important food fish distributed throughout aquatic habitats of the Ecuadorian Amazon. We sampled gonad weight, body condition, and feeding of this species to address the question of whether changes in these biological parameters are related to hydrological variation and migration patterns. High frequency of empty stomachs and poor body condition corresponded to migration periods. Gonad condition analysis revealed a single, discrete spawning period in April (end of rising water season). We synthesized our own and published observations on migration patterns of black prochilodus and presumptive factors that influence those movements. Mature individuals make lateral migrations from peripheral flooded habitats to large white water rivers to spawn. Eggs and larvae drift downstream to nurseries at least into Peru and perhaps into Brazil; there do not appear to be nursery habitats in Ecuador. After 6-18 months, they migrate upstream, recruiting to parental stocks. Long-distance migrations of black prochilodus and similar fishes in Neotropical rivers disobey political boundaries. Conservation and management of such migratory fishes, thus, requires international co-operation and integrated conservation efforts.(AU)

El bocachico, Prochilodus nigricans, es una fuente importante de proteínas, distribuido en hábitats acuáticos de las tierras bajas de la Amazonía ecuatoriana. Se muestreo el peso de las gónadas, la condición corporal, y alimentación de esta especie para determinar la relación de estos parámetros biológicos con la variación hidrológica y patrones migratorios. Una frecuencia alta de estómagos vacíos y la pobre condición corporal corresponde a períodos de migración. El análisis del estado de las gónadas reveló un corto periodo de desove en abril (fin de la temporada de aumento del río). Hemos sintetizado nuestras observaciones propias y publicadas sobre migraciones del bocachico, así como los factores que presumiblemente influyen en estos movimientos. Los peces adultos migran lateralmente desde hábitats periféricos inundados hasta ríos de aguas blancas para desovar. Los huevos y larvas flotan aguas abajo hasta llegar a sitios de crianza en Perú y posiblemente en Brasil; no parece haber hábitats de crianza en Ecuador. Después de 6-18 meses, los bocachicos migran aguas arriba, reclutando a las poblaciones parentales. Las migraciones a larga distancia del bocachico y peces similares en ríos Neotropicales desobedecen las fronteras políticas. Una gestión apropiada de este recurso requiere de cooperación internacional y esfuerzos integrados de conservación.(AU)